


Home Sweet Hell's Kitchen

by Find_Me_Calling_You



Category: Call Me By Your Name (2017) RPF
Genre: Broadway, Divorce, Family, Family Feels, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Infidelity, Lots of Love for Armie, M/M, New York City, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:48:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23092090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Find_Me_Calling_You/pseuds/Find_Me_Calling_You
Summary: It's the first night of previews for 'The Minutes' and Armie's nervous. It goes phenomenally, and he's on his way home when a familiar voice calls his name.
Relationships: Timothée Chalamet/Armie Hammer
Comments: 35
Kudos: 121





	Home Sweet Hell's Kitchen

**Author's Note:**

> Armie needs all the love. Especially sweet, soft Broadway Armie, our gentlest giant.

First night of previews. He’s been rehearsing for months, but this is the first time they go in front of a real audience. He doesn’t want to miss a cue. He doesn’t want to fuck up. He needs to remember the Latin.

It’s previews. This is their time to tweak little things here and there. Work out the kinks, get it going smoothly so when it premiers it’s the smash hit he knows it’s going to be.

It doesn’t make the idea of going out on stage any less terrifying. It’s been over a year and a half. His brain is on repeat; don’t fuck up, don’t fuck up, don’t fuck up.

Elizabeth doesn’t call and he’s completely unsurprised. She had a pedicure planned for this afternoon or something she said. 

Timmy FaceTimes him from London, a huge smile on his face and a thousand words of encouragement that almost make him feel like he’s getting a hug all the way across the Atlantic. Timmy promises, swears up and down he’ll come for the night of the premier, but he’d accepted the Paris Fashion Week invitation ages ago and Armie really didn’t want him trying to go from Paris to New York in a little under a day when he was trying to prepare his own work. The three long days they spent holed up in Timmy’s apartment, kissing, stroking, snuggling, touching, licking, sucking, and fucking every way they could imagine would have to hold Armie over for now. Timmy blows him kisses and crosses his arms across his chest in a hugging gesture before the call ends. 

Nick’s incoming FaceTime call has perfect timing, Harper and Ford’s smiling faces appear on his screen and their shouts of joy immediately fill his ears. “Daddy, daddy!”

They tell him at length about their day. About pancakes for breakfast, going to the park, and even Nick making them clean their rooms. But they went for ice cream after that, so it was all okay. Time is getting closer and Nick is conscious of it, encouraging the kids to tell him good luck.

“Hey, break a leg tonight, man. You’ll be great!” Nick’s smile is reassuring and Armie manages a nod.

“Thank you.” They all say goodbye and Armie makes his final preparations for going on stage.

He can do this.

He  _ can _ do this.

***

It goes well. It goes beyond well--it’s freaking amazing. Despite all the ideas they have to make little changes now, it’s brilliant. The cast has amazing energy and the crowd gives it right back to them. He knows he’s grinning like a fool by the time they’re done, but he’s so fucking  _ excited. _ He almost can’t remember the last time he enjoyed a project quite this much.

He cools down with a brief shower in his dressing room then drags his hat and jacket on with his clothes. It may be early march but it’s fucking freezing in New York. He’s missed interacting with the fans though and he can’t wait to get out there with them.

When he makes his way out of the stage door, he’s greeted by a new wave of cheers, eager fans trying to get a quick photo, even just a smile and hello if they don’t have anything they want him to sign. There are dozens and dozens of people that waited out in the cold just to tell him that they liked his work. It’s an honor and a humbling moment as an actor. His steps feel lighter than they have in months. He’s about a block away from the studio when he hears a woman’s voice, a bit of New York drawl with a distinct twist.

“Oh Mr. Sexiest Risk Taker, you wanna sign something for me?” Armie allows himself to hope and bursts into a grin when he sees Pauline holding her Playbill.

“Sorry, I only sign things within twenty feet of the door, so…” She rolls her eyes and jogs over to him.

“Asshole. I missed you.” She throws her arms around him in a fierce hug. “You really were great tonight. We’re really proud of you.” She gives him an extra tight squeeze and he lets her down, not realizing he’d been holding her tight to his chest several inches off the ground.

“We?”

“You really think we’d miss this, Armie?” Nicole asks with a grin as she and Marc approach from the same little storefront Pauline had been hanging out at. Nicole pulls him into a hug and kisses his cheek. Armie goes for a handshake with Marc who lets out the quietest little huff of a laugh and pulls him in for a hug too. When Armie is let go, he tries not to let on that his eyes are a little moist and the Chalamets let him keep his dignity. Nicole slides up next to him and he offers her his arm, height adjusted for her petite stature. She grasps it both gently and very firmly, guiding him forward.

“Oh, my apartment’s...” Nicole makes a tsk-tsk noise and shakes her head fiercely.

“No, no, no. You need somewhere nice and homey, with people around you to celebrate you and all you’re accomplishing.”

“Plus,” Pauline chimes in, “I love being your late night Big Mac partner, but we probably have something a little better than McDonald’s.” Armie can’t hold in a laugh and wraps his free arm around Pauline. She easily loops an arm around his waist, and he allows himself to be guided by these wonderful women he’s been lucky enough to have in his life.

The cozy little Hell’s Kitchen row house Timmy grew up in isn’t far at all, and as soon as he steps through the door (just like half an inch too low for him, he’s learned over the years now) the cold seeps out of him and he allows himself to drop from the adrenaline of the theater and into resting after the show.

Pauline forces him onto the couch and hands him four playbills to sign (“we’re mailing one to Timmy, first thing in the morning!”), which Armie does with a low laugh and a surprisingly steady hand. It’s also a distraction for Marc to approach with a tumbler of whiskey, holding it out with a slightly raised eyebrow, letting Armie know there’s no way he’s not taking the glass.

“Thank you, you didn’t have to…” Marc raises his hand gently and Armie falls silent. When Armie settles into the couch and takes a slow sip of his drink, Marc smiles at him lightly and puts the evening news on low. Armie’s honored, this is top shelf and he wouldn’t expect quite that level of fancy from the Chalamets, especially not for him, he didn’t need any of that.

Nicole appears just a few minutes later with food and a big glass of ice water, and Armie’s briefly worried he embarasses himself with how quickly he inhales the food. It’s been a long time since somebody surprised him with good food, especially on a day like today when he wouldn’t have been able to get his shit together when he got back to the apartment.

There’s a little conversation, catching up among them, but they don’t force him to talk and their presence is balm on his tired soul. They easily accept him like family, one of their own, and the thought makes his throat tighten in a way he’s not sure he wants to think about. 

Nicole offers him a cup of tea before bed and he attempts to decline before the full weight of her words kick in.

“Wait, bed? I have to be heading home.” Nicole gives him one of her looks, firm but unrelentingly warm as she approaches him. With Armie seated on the edge of the couch, they’re barely different in height and Nicole tugs him into a hug, brings his head to her shoulder.

“Sweetie, this is your home.” Armie can’t hold back a few tears this time and Nicole allows him the grace of hiding them in her sweater’s thick cowl neck. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

When he stands, Marc claps him on the shoulder with a smile and Pauline hauls him into another rib-crushingly fierce hug before Nicole gently leads him upstairs. He knows where Timmy’s room is by heart but it feels like more when Nicole leads him there.

“I’ll be back in a little minute with your tea.” Armie bends down to kiss her cheek and she gently scratches her fingers over his scalp. It feels nice.

When Nicole has gone, he turns to the bed and is stunned to find their shared grey sweater, and a pair of sweatpants he had left for Timmy on his last visit. On top is a small note.

_ Hey you, I didn’t wash these for like three or four days and I wouldn’t even guess at the sheets. But I like when I can smell you and I hope you like smelling me and that it can feel a little more like I’m there with you tonight. Can’t wait to see you and I love you more than anything. _

It’s almost ridiculous how fast he changes. He always goes commando when he sleeps so he hopes the sweatpants' old, wonky button holds everything where it’s supposed to stay. The sweater is soft, instant warmth. A soft floral, a subtle spice, a hint of something warm like amber, all with an undercurrent of a little sweat and some kind of Lush body soap Timmy insists upon. _Androgynous and delicious and so utterly, utterly, Timmy._ It all smells like heaven and he lays back on the bed, crawling under the covers, Timmy’s scent stronger here, unrelenting.

Nicole returns with his tea, sitting on the edge of the bed to give him a gentle kiss on the forehead and cheek.

“Do you need anything else, love?” Armie shakes his head, propping himself up on an elbow to drink some of his tea down. It’s thankfully been brewed at a lower temperature so it goes down easier.

“I think I’m okay. This was really...y’know, it meant a lot, like a LOT...that you’d do this just for me.” Armie finishes lamely and Nicole reaches over, runs her fingers through his hair.

“From the second Timmy said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you, now, and forever on, you are our son as well.” Armie can’t formulate a verbal response commensurate with the wave of love that overtakes him, warming him from the inside out. He finds himself fighting a yawn and taking another long sip of tea before he settles into the covers and Nicole runs her fingers through his hair.

“Text Timmy I love him?”

“Of course darling. But sleep, we’re here.” Nicole’s voice is steady, soothing, hypnotic, and Armie easily and quietly slides into the most restful sleep he’s had in ages, cozy, safe, and surrounded by the love of his family.

**Author's Note:**

> Because Armie deserves this much love and then some. The Chalamets know he has a tough family situation so they just adopted him.


End file.
